Solitude. There are times when I crave it, never more than when I left for vacation back on the 10th of July. Being the husband of a wonderful wife, the father of three active daughters, and a pastor of a growing church leaves little extended down time.
We headed east about 1000 miles and met some of Melanie's family at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We had fantastic days on the beach with highs in the upper 80's and a 5-10 mph consistent breeze almost every day. The Atlantic's water temperature was perfect.
One morning in particular was bliss. Melanie had taken her mom out shopping, all three of my girls were body surfing with their Uncle Bob's family (everybody should have an Uncle Bob, by the way), leaving me all alone on the beach for quite a long time. I donned my headphones, started listening to some classical guitar music, and took a barefooted stroll in the surf up and down the beach in both directions.
One can't help but become reflective as one looks into the vastness of the ocean while listening to classical guitar music. I don't know how far I walked, or even how long I was gone. All I know is that I thoroughly enjoyed every second.
After I got back to my beach chair, I kept processing the thought I had written about a week before as I wrote about prayer. Three simple words kept ringing in my head: faith clarifies sovereignty. My father-in-law prompted my thinking with a discussion of land prices on Myrtle Beach. A friend of his had purchased a couple of acres many years ago that grew to many times its initial worth. "Hindsight is always 20:20," he said.
Hindsight is always 20:20, but the Christian version of that saying is essentially, "Faith clarifies sovereignty." You see, faith requires both foresight and hindsight. Foresight is needed to propel us into the unknown, to see what others cannot, to hope where others have yet to dream. But hindsight is also needed to build a substantive case that moves us with conviction to act on the things not seen (Heb 11:1). When I look back over the course of my life, I see His hand intervening on so many levels, protecting, encouraging, convicting, promising, sustaining me.
What do you see when you look back? Virtually every person can see the trail of His hand throughout their life if they'll only look for them. If you don't see them, put on the lenses of faith, and those things that used to leave you scratching your head in wonder will become the foundational building blocks of who God has shaped you to be today.
I look back, and I see everything that happened in my life coalescing around God's call in my life to be a shepherd of His people. It is crystal clear to me. Not one major life experience has been wasted in His patient, progressive revelation to me as His child. He is 100% efficient. All the good, the bad and the ugly were used to get me where He needed me to be. The exciting thing is that He's not done, God willing.
So keep moving forward. The more you step out in faith, the more clear His sovereign hand becomes behind you. Your faith will clarify His sovereignty. As my friend Bill Smith has reminded me, God gives us the privilege to stand at the side of the tapestry and peek around to see the finished side. As a pastor, I get a sneak peek of the beautiful tapestry that He weaves in so many situations. If you look, you can see them too; just look through your faith colored glasses.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Two Common Questions About Prayer ...
(These two questions about prayer were originally written for the 2009 CityFest Prayer Team email newsletter. We are forming a database of 1000 prayer intercessors for this Fall's Central Arkansas CityFest with Luis Palau that will serve the Body of Christ long after the festival is over. If you would like to join the database, please send an email to Judy Best at judy@prayeradventures.com. Thank you for praying!)
I. Why Pray if God Already Knows?
Many of us, if we were really honest with ourselves, have probably struggled with this question. The answer? God has sovereignly willed certain things to occur only when we pray. Events are ordained to happen because you and I simply ask Him. There are things He wants to accomplish in, through and around you, that will eternally affect your family, church, workplace and city ... all because we choose to pray. (James 4:2, Luke 11:9-13, James 5:17-18)
Another important truth to understand is that God, in His merciful wisdom, created prayer as one of the primary mediums of communication (in both directions) between His infinite being and our finite humanity. With Christ in your life, He expects a very real, dynamic, intimate relationship with YOU. Such a relationship will only grow so deep without proper prayer. (Ps 27:14, Ps 38:15, Is 50:4, John 15:7, 1 John 1:9)
So why pray if He already knows? Why talk to your children if you already know what they are going through? Why listen to their hearts if you already know their situation? ... Get the picture? In those tender moments, we, as the parent, are able to speak into our children's lives. Our Heavenly Father desires to do the same thing with us.
II. Why Didn't God Answer My Prayers?
We've probably all prayed earnestly for things that didn't pan out the way we desired. Even as a pastor, I have been left bewildered with many unanswered questions, especially when I see situations go the opposite way that I had been praying. Others still are left frustrated with God, and the unanswered prayer is used to form a wedge between them and God: a reason to doubt God instead of believe in Him.
I was reminded recently on several fronts why God allows these things to happen. I want to share them with you.
A seemingly unanswered prayer does not mean God is not working. I've seen recently how quickly God can change a despairing situation from one of hopelessness to one of hope. His sovereign hand continues to work long after my last prayer has been prayed; a lost sheep comes home, a heart breaks and runs to those that have loved them well, a phone call or a letter from someone unexpected that changes everything. Things can change on a dime because God is at work, even though we can't see it. His timing is simply not our timing. (Col 4:2, 1 Thess 5:17)
His glory is always first, our comfort second. God continues to use His children in the worst of circumstances, so that others will sit up and take notice of the hope that is within us. Someone understands their need for Christ through a tragedy; others want for themselves what they have seen in the life of the one who believes; the gospel is sown in the life of an unbeliever through a powerful testimony of faith through adversity. Faith exhibited in the midst of trials is like a magnet to those who possess no hope, and many times that is the answer to our prayers. (Matt 5:14-16, 1 Pet 1:6-7)
He uses those times to deepen our faith. When we trust Him through those times He doesn't appear to be working, and then see the power of His sovereign hand in the end, our faith is dredged out into a deep channel of trust. Our faith is refined to a high degree of purity on the other side of perseverance. (James 1:2-4)
God weaves the tapestry. From the other side, all we see are disconnected threads starting and stopping at random places; questions unanswered, mysteries yet to be revealed. But from Heaven's side, God sees the beautiful, big picture and wants us to keep praying, believing, trusting, and hoping in Him. Our faith clarifies His sovereignty, because as you look back in time, you can't help but see His righteous right hand at work. Allow those mysterious times to be used to draw you toward Him instead of away from Him, to push you towards hope, instead of away from it, towards life instead of death. You won't regret it. Keep praying!
I. Why Pray if God Already Knows?
Many of us, if we were really honest with ourselves, have probably struggled with this question. The answer? God has sovereignly willed certain things to occur only when we pray. Events are ordained to happen because you and I simply ask Him. There are things He wants to accomplish in, through and around you, that will eternally affect your family, church, workplace and city ... all because we choose to pray. (James 4:2, Luke 11:9-13, James 5:17-18)
Another important truth to understand is that God, in His merciful wisdom, created prayer as one of the primary mediums of communication (in both directions) between His infinite being and our finite humanity. With Christ in your life, He expects a very real, dynamic, intimate relationship with YOU. Such a relationship will only grow so deep without proper prayer. (Ps 27:14, Ps 38:15, Is 50:4, John 15:7, 1 John 1:9)
So why pray if He already knows? Why talk to your children if you already know what they are going through? Why listen to their hearts if you already know their situation? ... Get the picture? In those tender moments, we, as the parent, are able to speak into our children's lives. Our Heavenly Father desires to do the same thing with us.
II. Why Didn't God Answer My Prayers?
We've probably all prayed earnestly for things that didn't pan out the way we desired. Even as a pastor, I have been left bewildered with many unanswered questions, especially when I see situations go the opposite way that I had been praying. Others still are left frustrated with God, and the unanswered prayer is used to form a wedge between them and God: a reason to doubt God instead of believe in Him.
I was reminded recently on several fronts why God allows these things to happen. I want to share them with you.
A seemingly unanswered prayer does not mean God is not working. I've seen recently how quickly God can change a despairing situation from one of hopelessness to one of hope. His sovereign hand continues to work long after my last prayer has been prayed; a lost sheep comes home, a heart breaks and runs to those that have loved them well, a phone call or a letter from someone unexpected that changes everything. Things can change on a dime because God is at work, even though we can't see it. His timing is simply not our timing. (Col 4:2, 1 Thess 5:17)
His glory is always first, our comfort second. God continues to use His children in the worst of circumstances, so that others will sit up and take notice of the hope that is within us. Someone understands their need for Christ through a tragedy; others want for themselves what they have seen in the life of the one who believes; the gospel is sown in the life of an unbeliever through a powerful testimony of faith through adversity. Faith exhibited in the midst of trials is like a magnet to those who possess no hope, and many times that is the answer to our prayers. (Matt 5:14-16, 1 Pet 1:6-7)
He uses those times to deepen our faith. When we trust Him through those times He doesn't appear to be working, and then see the power of His sovereign hand in the end, our faith is dredged out into a deep channel of trust. Our faith is refined to a high degree of purity on the other side of perseverance. (James 1:2-4)
God weaves the tapestry. From the other side, all we see are disconnected threads starting and stopping at random places; questions unanswered, mysteries yet to be revealed. But from Heaven's side, God sees the beautiful, big picture and wants us to keep praying, believing, trusting, and hoping in Him. Our faith clarifies His sovereignty, because as you look back in time, you can't help but see His righteous right hand at work. Allow those mysterious times to be used to draw you toward Him instead of away from Him, to push you towards hope, instead of away from it, towards life instead of death. You won't regret it. Keep praying!
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